May 14, 2019

Onex to buy Canada's WestJet Airlines for $2.6 billion

Dan Primack

Illustration: Sarah Grillo/Axios

Onex Partners agreed to acquire WestJet Airlines, Canada's second-largest air carrier, for C$3.5 billion (~$2.6 billion). The C$31 per share price represents a 67% premium to Friday's closing price.

Why it matters: It would be the largest-ever private equity takeover of an airline. It also would fulfill a long-held ambition for Onex, which failed in 1999 to buy Air Canada and in 2007 to buy Australia's Qantas Airways.

  • The bottom line: "It's a deal that no one saw coming. Not aviation experts, not analysts following the company, not even the vast majority of staff at the airline. There wasn't even a whiff of speculation. Even at WestJet's annual meeting last week, the question for WestJet was whether it might snap up a smaller rival, not if the Calgary-based carrier was up for sale," write CBC News' Kyle Bakx and Tony Seskus.

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Coronavirus dashboard

Illustration: Sarah Grillo/Axios

  1. Global: Total confirmed cases as of 3 a.m. ET: 786,291 — Total deaths: 37,820 — Total recoveries: 166,088.
  2. U.S.: Leads the world in confirmed cases. Total confirmed cases as of 3 a.m. ET: 164,620 — Total deaths: 3,170— Total recoveries: 5,943.
  3. Federal government latest: The White House will extend its social distancing guidelines until April 30.
  4. State updates: Rural-state governors say testing is still inadequate, contradicting Trump — Virginia, Maryland and D.C. issue stay-at-home orders to residents, joining 28 other states.
  5. Business latest: Ford and General Electric aim to make 50,000 ventilators in 100 days.
  6. In photos: Navy hospital ship arrives in Manhattan.
  7. What should I do? Answers about the virus from Axios experts — What to know about social distancing — Q&A: Minimizing your coronavirus risk.
  8. Other resources: CDC on how to avoid the virus, what to do if you get it.

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